Sunday, March 15, 2009

Contentment

I consider myself a content person, but every now and again this tiny little voice inside of my brain creeps in and urges me to go shop and buy and get some shiny new things. I have said in the past I am not a minimalist, but I don't want a lot of junk or clutter in my house, because it would drive me nuts.

However, for the past several days that little voice keeps showing up urging me to go to the store and buy, buy, buy. I want new clothes, I want new make up, I want more pots and pans for the kitchen, I want a new bed spread and new sheets to replace the bed spread that I bought less than a year ago. I want, I want, I want. Sometimes, I read blogs, or books, or see movies about girls my age who still go out and shop and blow $300 on clothes and shoes, and laugh it off. That has never been me, I am way to practical for that. But, sometimes, I want to be that girl. I want to throw off my practical side, throw caution (aka my bank statement) out the door and head to the mall on a shopping spree. Yesterday was one of those kind of days, and I kept telling my husband we need to go to the store, we need to look at this or that. Finally, he just said, aren't we supposed to be saving money. He was not mean, accusatory, or rude, he just asked me a really simple question about our goals.

And he was right. We are saving money. We are on the Dave Ramsey plan to save money and to build a future so that one day we can live like no one else, and we can give like no one else. With that one simple statement he was able to knock that little voice right out of my head. Thank you P.

Usually, I am such a goal oriented person, and I get tunnel vision and chose not to tune into anything else other than my goal. I want quick, fast results. I want to get it done, and move on. But, occasionally, I slip, like I did yesterday, like I did this whole last week in fact. It is such a precarious tight rope, this life on a budget. If you don't find that perfect balance and that discipline to stay the course, then you will be blown over to one side or the other by your whims.

Yesterday, I wanted to give into my whims. I wanted to throw out all the hard work and live for right now without any thought or hesitation about tomorrow. But I didn't. It was not because I did not want to, it was because I have an amazing husband who keeps me accountable. He is constantly reminding me that my words need to match up to my actions, because if they don't then I have lost. He reminds me that my word is my bond.

So we did not make it to the store, and I find myself once again content with all that I have.